EL PASOAN WHO SURVIVED ZETAS ATTACK IN MEXICO HAILED AS HERO

An ICE agent from El Paso is being hailed as a hero after surviving an
attack that killed another agent on a Mexican road earlier this week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Victor Avila Jr. was
released from a U.S. hospital Wednesday after being shot twice in the
leg in the attack Tuesday that killed Special Agent Jaime Zapata in
San Luis Potosi state.

"As we mourn Special Agent Zapata's death, we also recognize Special
Agent Avila's great heroism," said ICE Director John Morton.

"His willingness to stand in the gap for the American people and serve
on the front lines exemplifies his strength of character and his
courage. We honor his service and pray for his continued recovery,"
Morton added.

The agents were attacked while driving back to Mexico City after
meeting U.S. personnel in San Luis Potosi state.

The Zetas drug cartel is suspected of attacking the agents, who were
traveling in a sport utility vehicle with diplomatic license plates
and who reportedly identified themselves as diplomats before being
shot.

"There appears to be some evidence that the attack was sanctioned,"
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told the Houston Chronicle on Thursday.

"ICE is trying to determine if these were Zetas operating in a rogue
fashion or whether this was a hit sanctioned at the very highest
levels of the cartel," McCaul said.

McCaul, whose district covers an area between Austin and Houston, is
chairman of the Homeland Security Oversight and Investigations
Subcommittee.

Mexican and U.S. authorities are working together to investigate the
deadly attack. It is the thought to be most serious incident involving
U.S. agents in Mexico since the murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki"
Camarena in 1985.

It has not been disclosed whether Avila is back in El
Paso.

Officials said Avila was a federal probation officer before joining
ICE in 2004. He worked in the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit and
the Financial/Asset Forfeiture

Unit while assigned to the ICE office in El Paso.

Avila and Zapata were part of the ICE Attache Office in Mexico City.
There are about 30 ICE agents in Mexico working as liaison officers
with Mexican law enforcement providing expertise and sharing
information on cross-border crime, such as drug and sex trafficking.